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SP13

Regulation of castor bean sales

Southport Inquiry · The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · Issued 13 April 2026 · Addressed to: Home Office

Government responseHome Office: Accepted (Jul 2026)

DeliveryHome Office says in progress (Sep 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The Home Office’s ongoing review of the sale of castor beans should consider regulation of the number of castor beans that can be sold in a single transaction.

Southport Inquiry, The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · 13 Apr 2026 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

Dan Jarvis, Minister of State for Security, announced in September 2026 that the government intends to launch a six-week public consultation during the Conference Recess regarding proposed amendments to the Poisons Act 1972, seeking views on measures to strengthen public safety and national security (Dan Jarvis, Sep 2026). Earlier, HM Government stated in July 2026 that the Home Office completed the recommended review in May 2026 (Home Office response, Jul 2026).

Sources

Dan Jarvis, Sep 2026

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

Report-level response context

The government's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.

Government response

●Home Office · Accepted · 2 Jul 2026

Words of: HM Government, Government Response to Phase 1 of the Southport Inquiry (CP 1623), presented to Parliament by the Home Secretary, 2 July 2026

The Home Office is the lead department and completed the recommended review in May 2026. Next steps are set out at paragraph 59.

Extract from: Government Response to Phase 1 of the Southport Inquiry

Delivery

●Home Office says in progress · 15 Sep 2026

Today I announce the Government's intention to launch a six-week public consultation regarding proposed amendments to the Poisons Act 1972. This process will seek views from the public on several changes that are intended to strengthen public safety and national security and is expected to launch during the Conference Recess. The proposals support the Government’s commitment to respond decisively to the findings of the Southport Inquiry, particularly by strengthening controls where substances present a clear risk. They also form part of a broader approach to reducing access to means of harm in a proportionate way.

From: Consultation on amendments to the Poisons Act 1972, Dan Jarvis, Minister of State for Security

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.